Bono
Paul David Hewson, (born 10 May 1960), most commonly known by his stage name Bono, is an Irish singer and musician, best known for being the main vocalist of the rock band U2. He writes almost all U2 lyrics, often using political, social, and religious themes. During their early years, Bono's lyrics contributed to U2's rebellious and spiritual tone. As the band matured, his lyrics became inspired more by personal experiences shared with members of U2. Duran Duran connections Bono and U2 participated in the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" alongside Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, Sting, and many others. U2 performed at the subsequent Live Aid concert and the 2004 Band Aid 20 single of the same name. Bob Geldof and Bono later collaborated to organize the 2005 Live 8 project in which Duran Duran participated. Bono is a part of the informal "Lead Singers Club", with Simon Le Bon and Michael Hutchence of INXS, that occasionally vacationed and partied together during the 1980s. For Hutchence's posthumous 1999 album Michael Hutchence, Bono finished an incomplete recording of "Slide Away" as a duet with Hutchence. Biography Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School, where he met his future wife Ali, and the future members of U2. In 1976, Bono, David Evans ("The Edge"), his brother Dik Evans, and Adam Clayton responded to an advertisement on a bulletin board at Mount Temple posted by fellow student Larry Mullen Jr. to form a rock band. The band had occasional jam sessions in which they did covers of other bands and started writing their own songs, which are often rich in social and political themes. During performances Bono attempts to interact with the crowd as often as possible and is known for pulling audience members onto the stage or moving himself down to the physical level of the audience, including at the Live Aid concert in 1985 where he leapt off the stage and pulled a woman from the crowd to dance with her as the band played "Bad" and "Walk on the Wild Side". Bono has won numerous awards with U2, including 22 Grammy awards and the 2003 Golden Globe for best original song. In 2005, the U2 band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in their first year of eligibility. In November 2008, Rolling Stone ranked Bono the 32nd greatest singer of all time. Outside the band, he has collaborated and recorded with numerous artists, sits on the board of Elevation Partners, and has refurbished and co-owns The Clarence Hotel in Dublin. In film, Bono appeared the musical Across the Universe, and sang the Beatles songs "I am the Walrus" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". Bono's other acting credits include cameos in 1999's Entropy and 2000's Million Dollar Hotel, the latter based on a story conceived by Bono. In 2000 he acted as himself in the short film Sightings of Bono, adapted from a short story by Irish writer Gerard Beirne. Bono has become one of the world's best-known philanthropic performers, and is widely known for his activism concerning Africa, for which he co-founded DATA, EDUN, the ONE Campaign and Product Red. He has been dubbed, "the face of fusion philanthropy", both for his success enlisting powerful allies from a diverse spectrum of leaders in government, religious institutions, philanthropic organizations, popular media, and the business world, as well as for spearheading new organizational networks that bind global humanitarian relief with geopolitical activism and corporate commercial enterprise. Bono and U2 performed on Amnesty International's Conspiracy Of Hope tour of the United States in 1986, and in numerous other charitable concerts since. In 2005 he recorded a version of the Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush song "Don't Give Up" with Alicia Keys, with proceeds going to the Keep a Child Alive program. Since 1999, Bono has become increasingly involved in campaigning for third-world debt relief and raising awareness of the plight of Africa, including the AIDS pandemic. In the past decade Bono has met with several influential politicians to ask them for help with his charitable agenda, and was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, 2005, and 2006 for his philanthropy. He was granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II, and was named as a Person of the Year by Time magazine. Category:Singers Category:Musicians